E-mail synchronization between heterogeneous mail servers

Abstract

A method or system for synchronizing e-mail messages for a user, particularly for POP3 protocols. E-mail messages addressed to the user are received at an e-mail control at a local server, from an external e-mail server. The e-mail control stores each e-mail message in a consolidated e-mail storage at the local server. The e-mail control stores a message identifier for each e-mail message, in a message identifier storage at the local server. It is determined whether an e-mail message in the consolidated e-mail storage has been deleted from the external e-mail server, and if so, then the e-mail message is deleted from the consolidated e-mail storage. The invention provides for forward and/or reverse synchronization of e-mail messages. Optionally, the step of determining includes comparing message identifiers in the message identifier storage to message identifiers in e-mail received from the external e-mail server. Alternatively, the step of determining includes comparing the message identifiers of e-mail on the external e-mail server to the message identifiers in the message identifier storage, or, comparing the message identifiers in the message identifier storage to the message identifiers of e-mail in the consolidated e-mail storage.

1. A method for synchronizing e-mail messages for a user, comprising:
 requesting by an e-mail control that e-mail messages addressed to the user be sent from an external e-mail server; 
 storing, by the e-mail control, each e-mail message, of a plurality of e-mail messages addressed to the user and sent from the external email server; 
 storing, by the e-mail control, a message identifier for each e-mail message of the plurality of e-mail messages, in a first message identifier storage; 
 connecting, by the e-mail control, to a consolidation mail server, the consolidation mail server reflects combined e-mail for the user; 
 receiving previously synced message identifiers from the consolidation server and storing the previously synced message identifiers in a second storage; and 
 comparing message identifiers in the first message identifier storage to message identifiers in the second storage to find a message identifier in the second storage that is missing from the first storage, and if so, then deleting the e-mail message that corresponds to the missing message identifier from the consolidation mail server. 
 
     
     
       2. The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the connecting to the consolidation mail server comprises opening an IMAP connection. 
     
     
       3. The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising opening a POP3 connection by the e-mail control, to the external server to receive the plurality of e-mail messages from the external server. 
     
     
       4. The method as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising deleting the missing message identifier from the second storage. 
     
     
       5. The method as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising the email control connecting to the external e-mail server as the user, to request that the email messages be sent. 
     
     
       6. A system for synchronizing e-mail messages for a user, comprising:
 an e-mail control, to request that e-mail messages addressed to the user be sent, from an external e-mail server; 
 storage, accessible by the e-mail control, to store each e-mail message of a plurality of e-mail messages addressed to the user and that are sent from the external email server; 
 first message identifier storage, accessible by the e-mail control, to store a message identifier for each e-mail message of the plurality of e-mail messages; and 
 second message identifier storage, accessible by the e-mail control, to store previously synced message identifiers from consolidation e-mail storage, 
 the consolidation e-mail storage to have at least two states, including a first state having at least one e-mail message for the user which has been deleted from the external e-mail server, and a second state having no e-mail message for the user which has been deleted from the external e-mail server, 
 the email control to compare message identifiers in the first message identifier storage to message identifiers in the second storage to find a message identifier in the second message identifier storage that is missing from the first message identifier storage, and delete the e-mail message that corresponds to the missing message identifier from the consolidation e-mail storage. 
 
     
     
       7. The system as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein the e-mail control is to connect to the consolidation e-mail storage using an IMAP connection. 
     
     
       8. The system as claimed in  claim 7 , wherein the e-mail control is to connect to the external server using a POP3 connection to receive the plurality of e-mail messages. 
     
     
       9. The system as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein the e-mail control is to send a command to the consolidation e-mail storage to delete the e-mail message that corresponds to the missing message identifier. 
     
     
       10. The system as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein the e-mail control is in a local server that is connected to the external e-mail server via a POP3 connection, as the user. 
     
     
       11. A system for synchronizing e-mail messages for a user, comprising:
 an e-mail control, to request that e-mail messages addressed to the user be sent, from an external e-mail server; 
 storage, accessible by the e-mail control, to store each e-mail message of a plurality of e-mail messages addressed to the user and that are sent from the external email server; 
 first message identifier storage, accessible by the e-mail control, to store a message identifier for each e-mail message of the plurality of e-mail messages; and 
 second message identifier storage, accessible by the e-mail control, to store previously synced message identifiers from consolidation e-mail storage, 
 the email control to compare message identifiers in the first message identifier storage to message identifiers in the second storage to find a message identifier in the first message identifier storage that is missing from the second message identifier storage, and delete the e-mail message that corresponds to the missing message identifier from the external e-mail server. 
 
     
     
       12. The system as claimed in  claim 11 , wherein the e-mail control is to connect to the consolidation e-mail storage using an IMAP connection. 
     
     
       13. The system as claimed in  claim 12 , wherein the e-mail control is to connect to the external server using a POP3 connection to receive the plurality of e-mail messages. 
     
     
       14. The system as claimed in  claim 11 , wherein the e-mail control is in a local server that is connected to the external e-mail server via a POP3 connection, as the user.